A Comforting Hand
by headcanonsandmore
Summary: Luna likes Ginny Weasley a lot. She's her friend, of course. But why does she feel so unhappy when she sees Ginny around Dean Thomas?


Luna Lovegood liked Ginny Weasley a lot.

They had become friends over the course of the past two years. Luna had never really had friends before, so she was very pleased about that. The DA had really opened up things for her. Now she knew Harry, Ron and Neville really well. She even got along well with Hermione, although they were never really bosom-buddies compared to how close Luna was with the others.

Ginny was different, though. She had been Luna's first friend her own age, so there had always been a special bond between them.

Ginny was intelligent, witty, brave, and amazing at Quidditch. She was also kind and very nice to be around.

And beautiful. Luna couldn't remember the first time she had thought that about Ginny, but it was true. Ginny Weasley was utterly beautiful.

At that particular moment, Ginny was chuckling to herself as the two of them walked from their shared Charms class to the great hall for lunch. Luna had been talking about Wrackspurts, and Ginny -as always- was smiling winningly at her. Whenever their eyes met, Luna's heart gave a little thump, as if joyous about it.

That tended to happen all the time Luna was around Ginny, actually.

'Lu; you're one in a million. You know that, right?'

Luna felt her cheeks grow warm. She liked hearing Ginny call her that.

'Thank you, Ginny,' she replied, 'that's very sweet of you to say.'

'I mean it!' The redhead exclaimed, patting Luna softly on the shoulder. 'Honestly, you're worse than Ron when it comes to taking compliments- oh, hi, Dean!'

Dean Thomas –Ginny's fellow Gryffindor- had appeared from behind a tapestry nearby. His eyes crinkled as he grinned at Ginny.

'Hey, Gin,' the Londoner said, his voice very soft. 'Going to lunch?'

'Yep; on our way now.'

'Nice.'

Without hesitating, Dean reached out and enveloped his hand around Ginnys, intertwining their fingers.

Luna felt a sudden lurch in the region of her stomach. Maybe she was hungry? Possibly, but that didn't feel like it did when she was normally hungry. And why did she feel sad all of a sudden?

At that moment, Seamus Finnegan (Dean's best friend) emerged from the same tapestry. Upon seeing the joined hands of Ginny and Dean, the Irishman seemed to roll his eyes. But Luna could have sworn that she had seen a brief look of longing.

'Oy! Shay! You coming to lunch or not?'

'As long as you two don't mind me tagging along?'

'Course not.'

Seamus joined them as they continued along the corridor. However –as Luna walked parallel with him- she couldn't help but notice that same longing look appear in Seamus's eyes once Dean and Ginny had turned their heads away from him.

The Irishman stopped briefly to adjust his tie, and Luna hung back. Dean and Ginny carried on up the corridor.

'Seamus, are you alright? You seem rather upset.'

Seamus turned his head so fast that his neck clicked. Rubbing it, he let out a long sigh.

'Is it really _that_ obvious?'

'Is what obvious?'

Seamus stared at her for a second.

'You too, huh?'

Chuckling slightly to himself, the Irishman became to walk along the corridor.

'I guess we're similar in that way, aren't we?'

Luna hastened to catch up with him, still not really understanding what he had meant.

* * *

The four of them entered the great hall. As lunchtime was more of a rush than dinner, there was far more allowance for people sitting regardless of house. This meant that no-one batted an eyelid when Luna sat down with Ginny, Dean and Seamus on the Gryffindor table.

Dean ladled a spoon of soup, and held it out to Ginny.

'Oh, stop it, Dean' Ginny said, looking very embarrassed. 'I'm not a child, I can feed myself.'

Dean flashed Ginny a tentative smile, and the redhead seemed to blush slightly.

'Fine,' she muttered, before hurriedly gulping down the soup.

Nearby, Seamus stared moodily down at his own soup.

'What's wrong, Seamus? Wrong kind of soup?'

'Nah, it's fine,' Seamus muttered, resting his elbow on the table as he began to blow on his soup. 'Nevermind.'

As Dean turned back to Ginny, Luna couldn't help but notice the sour look the Irishman gave the redhead, as if he would rather she not be there. Or… as if he'd rather be in her place.

As she began to eat her bowl of chunky soup, Luna spotted Ronald Weasley nearby eating a sandwich. He was casting furtive glances up the table, to where Hermione Granger was sitting by herself, and playing miserably with her salad. Apparently giving up on eating, Ronald got to his feet, and wandered out of the hall.

'Don't tell me you still fancy Ron, Lu?'

Luna turned her head. Ginny had noticed who she was looking at.

'No, I don't. He's a good friend, but I know he would never see me that way.'

Ginny chuckled.

'You sure are perceptive.'

Luna felt her cheeks flush again.

'Thank you.'

'Yeah, Ron's been bonkers for Hermione for years now,' Dean said, amicably. 'I hope they sort things out; I hate seeing them all miserable like this.'

'She set a flock of birds on him, Dean!' Ginny exclaimed, flaring up. 'She hasn't even _tried_ to apologise to him! Yeah, he wasn't behaving his best, but that doesn't excuse it!'

'Sorry, Gin.'

Dean put his arm around the redheads' shoulders, and Ginny seemed to relax a bit.

Luna felt her stomach lurch again. That was most peculiar; she wasn't hungry any more.

She once again saw the longing look on Seamus's face, as he watched Dean slowly pat Ginny's shoulder. But the longing wasn't directed at Ginny at all.

'You're sweet, Dean. Thanks.'

'No worries, Gin. Gotta treat my girlfriend right, haven't I?'

And –with that- Dean leaned in and pecked Ginny softly on the lips.

Luna felt like her blood had turned to ice, and her heart seemed to slip several inches down her insides. A curious prickling was affecting her eyes.

'Lu?'

Ginny had leaned over, looking at the blonde with concern.

'Lu, are you okay? What's wrong?'

'I'm… I… I don't know… I have to go…'

Luna pulled her bag over her shoulder, and half-sprinted towards the exit. As she left, she saw Seamus give her a look of sympathetic, as if he knew exactly what she was feeling. The thought did little to calm the blonde-haired Ravenclaw.

* * *

Luna didn't stop running until she came to a false wall on the second floor; it was one of her favourite hiding spots, for when she wanted to get away from people.

Ducking through, she sat down on the carpeted floor, and began to cry. What on earth was wrong with her? All that had happened was Ginny being kissed by Dean, and yet Luna felt more miserable than she had felt in a very long day.

Oh, no.

_She _wanted to be the one kissing Ginny. Her best friend. Who she loved dearly, and who would clearly never love her in quite the same way.

'Luna? Luna, are you okay?'

The blonde slowly opened her eyes.

Ronald Weasley was kneeling down next to her, his blue eyes full of concern. Lavender Brown was stood a couple of feet behind him, looking worried.

'R-Ronald? I'm… I'm sorry, I'm just being silly⸺'

'No, you're crying. What's wrong? Did someone upset you?'

Luna shook her head, feeling very confused.

'Not as far as I'm aware. I just saw Dean kiss Ginny, and I started crying. I... I just…'

'Sssshhhhh,' Ronald said, now patting her on the arm. 'It's okay.'

At this point, Lavender stepped forward, and sat down next to Luna. She smelled of a sweet flowery perfume, and her smile was soft and comforting.

'Luna, was it?'

Luna nodded.

'It sounds like romantic tension to me. When you're attracted to someone, you get upset when you see them with other people⸺'

'B-but Ginny's my best friend,' Luna sobbed, tears running down her face. 'I shouldn't be getting upset just because she's being k-k-kissed by someone…'

'_Ginny?_ I thought you meant… _oh_….'

'What?' Ron asked, looking confused. 'What's the issue?'

'Er…' Lavender looked slightly panicked now. 'Well… you see…'

'Oh, you mean that? Well, Seamus has fancied Dean for years; this sort of stuff happens.' Ron said, before turning back to Luna. 'So, Luna; you like Ginny a lot, then?'

Startled by this, Luna nodded.

'I know it's scary, Luna. But it's gonna be okay. Ginny cares about you a lot. Even if it's not in that way, she couldn't stand not having you around.'

'R-really?'

'Course. You're her best friend, aren't you?'

Luna dried her tears, and nodded. Ron grinned at her, his lopsided grin conveying warmth and compassion.

She could easily see why Lavender liked Ron so much. He really was a sweet person. Even though most people barely spared him a second thought, the youngest Weasley boy was clearly a… diamond in the rough, as Luna's father would put it. She supposed all the Weasley family were like that. They were good people.

Maybe that's why Luna had fallen for Ginny in the first place⸺

'_Luna?_'

The blonde's heart seemed to have leapt into her throat. Ginny Weasley had appeared through the fake wall nearby, her eyes wide with worry.

'G-Ginny?'

'Ron, what's wrong with her⸺'

'She's upset, Ginny. I think she wants you.'

Luna could have been mistaken, but she could have sworn that Ginny's cheeks flushed at that last sentence as she scrambled through, kneeling down next to Ron.

'W-well, I'm her best friend, after all.'

Ron patted Luna on the shoulder once again, before flashing a brief supportive smile, and following Lavender through the wall.

'I'm sorry, Ginny,' Luna mumbled, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. 'I've made you worried⸺'

Her words died in her mouth, as Ginny threw her arms around Luna, pulling the blonde into a warm, comforting hug. Ginny's flowery scent (which Luna had always loved) filled her nostrils, and Luna felt suddenly warm and protected.

'Don't you dare apologise, Lu!' Ginny said, fiercely. 'You're my best friend; I want to be here for you!'

Luna felt her heart race.

'R-really?'

'Of course!' ⸺Ginny pulled back slightly, so that she was staring into Luna's eyes⸺ 'Whenever you feel down or upset, I want to be that shoulder you can cry on, okay?!'

Luna nodded.

'But… but what about Dean?'

Ginny paused, and Luna was shocked to realise that the redheads face was blushing a subtle shade of pink. Leaning forward so that they were only a few inches apart, Ginny stared deep into Luna's eyes. Her hands found Luna's, softly intertwining their fingers together.

'_You're more important_.'


End file.
